Rating: 
Summary: 3/4 wonderful, 1/4 dismal
Review: I just finished reading this book and started it with a great deal of anticipation and wonderment. The characters were so well drawn, the weaving of historical fact and fiction expertly done, the language so precise and beautiful, with a compelling story that had me turning pages as quickly as I could, and constantly thinking and dreaming about this beautiful island in a turquoise sea and the people who lived there. I was fully prepared for Corelli to die. Far preferable for the the author to give him an honorable death than to resort to such a cliched, unlikely, completely unbelievable and out-of-character ending! I was heartsick, and for reasons I surely wasn't expecting from the first part of the novel. Disappointing in the extreme! I can't imagine what the author was thinking. Perhaps it was his editors? Perhaps it was part of the movie deal? I'll never know, but I do wish that I had stopped reading before this wonderful novel became mired in so much implausible muck.
Rating: 
Summary: Everyone I know loves this book
Review: A great and beautiful story. But I don't know how they will be able to transorm it into a movie. Most of Correli's Mandolin takes place during WWII in the Greek Island of Cephallonia. Although the novel is based in a historical context, there is a strong sense of magical realism throughout the story. So fans of this style will definitely be pleased. The Marquez stlye is especially evident through the island's inhabitants, who include a drunk preist, a gentle giant, a communitist and a monarchist who are best friends and an old shepard who lives alone in the mountains. The brutality of war, the power of friendship, the loss of innocence, the passing of time and the agelessness of love are all touched upon in this novel. And they are done in a way that that will make even the most stoic and cynical reader smile and sometimes even drop a tear.
Rating: 
Summary: The Timeless Nature of Love and War
Review: The ancient beauty of a remote Greek island is contrasted with the daily reality of Nazi and Fascist occupation during WWII as both the citizens of the island and the soldiers who are stationed there strive to achieve some manner of normality in the face of worldwide horror and destruction. The inevitable mixing of Greek, German, and Italian people reflects the human side of war, but the conflicting ideologies ultimately bring disaster more frightening than could be imagined. Against the backdrop of interweaving politics and philosophies, is woven the stories of local villagers whose lives become real as they illustrate that different opinions and factions can exist in harmony without drastic action being taken. The very "Greekness" of their actions--the reflection of centuries of philosophical discourse, not to mention the birth place of western thought--is what gives them strength and courage to resist the morally ignorant forces that occupy their island. Perhaps the best part of the book, however, is the love story of Pelagia and Antonio and the wit and joy that exists in their relationship. Pelagia's father, Doctor Iannis is the true heart of the book as he discourses and writes about the history of his island and the nature of mankind in general. Through his humanity, he takes the Italian captain as the son he never had as he relishes the spirit and enthusiasm that they both share. Ultimately, through tears and laughter, the novel takes us through WWII and to the present where retrospection is often the only way to continue while at the same time, looking ahead is what has saved them all from the catastrophes of history.
Rating: 
Summary: What is it with the Brits and Greece?
Review: This work is a typical piece of contemporary fiction- intricately researched, based on historical events, derivative, and a showcase for the virtuoso prose of the author. Kind of Lawrence Durrell as interpreted by Garcia Marquez. However, if you read this book remember that the author is definitely just a novelist, not a historian. His version (at the end of the book) of what happened in Greece at the end of WW2 is pure bullhockey, British bullhockey. His diatribe against the Greek communists and nullification of their contribution during the German occupation is Churchillian bluster, not an accurate reading of history. A comprehensive history of Hitler's occupation of Greece written after "Corelli's Mandolin" clearly shows that the ONLY viable resistance to the Germans came from ELAM and ELAS (the Greek communists). The British intervention in Greece in December 1944 was one of the most heinous betrayals of WW2. Continuing the Nazi anticommunist program they re-armed collaborationist Battalionist and right-wing bandits to fight the only groups who actually resisted the Germans. British troops fought side by side with Nazi minions to complete the Wehrmacht's mission. Carrying out Churchill's pathetic dream of a post-war Balkan empire they plunged Greece into civil war and condemned her to thirty years of banana-republic Fascism under the King and the colonels. At the end of "Corelli's Mandolin" Mr. de Bernieres gives us a British magical realist interpretation of events, not anything rooted in reality.
Rating:
Summary: With so much happening....
Review: It took me three years to get past the first 70 or so pages of this book. With so much happening, I found myself waiting for something to happen. Once the real action started- about half way through- I was forced to read the rest to see if the ending would be a predictable hollywood type or if it would leave me with the emotional emptiness of the rest. What I found was a sad combination of the two. That being said, there is no way they will be able to capture the vastness of this novel, the highly historic characters, or the sense of interplay of global politics...too bad.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Historical Fiction
Review: I wanted to read this book before the movie came out, because most of the time, the movies do not live up to the novel. It will be interesting to see if the film can match the incredible sense of place--and a place during varying moments in recent history--that Louis de Bernieres paints in this wonderful novel. The reader really feels for the characters, and one gets a good "picture" of them, as well as the villages and countryside of Cephallonia. I had no idea that the Germans & Italians had invaded Greece (somehow that gets left out of many WWII histories). Even more suprising, and frustrating, was how the various military commands (Italian and the Allies) let the Cephallonians and the Italian troops hang out to dry in the summer and fall of 1944. The love story is well-done, but the ending was frustrating for this reader (although I expected more of a "let down," quite frankly, after all the despair of the last 150 pages or so.) On the whole, a worthwhile read, one that you keep thinking about after you've finished it...actually, I'd give it 4 and a half stars, not 4!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderous story...
Review: In my Washington lobbying days, I befriended Slade Gorton, who, at the time, was a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington. We were having dinner one night at the Williamsburg Inn and began discussing books we had read. In the course of that discussion, I mentioned that I was an avid Mark Helprin fan, having read all of his works. Slade astonished me by saying that Helprin was a friend of his! This, of course, led to a lengthly discussion of Helprin's works, life, etc. Gorton then said, "If you like Mark Helprin, you'll love Louis De Bernieres. Read Corelli's Mandolin." I did, and I must tell you that his flowing and descriptive prose will have you, too, thinking Mark Helprin. This tale is fascinating, surprising, and unpredictable. You will be happy and sad, but most of all, you will be entertained, and in the end, you will be glad you read this marvelous novel. Oh, and don't wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: a modern-day masterpiece
Review: I was very impressed with the author's poetic word choice and fluid descrptions. The book is absolutely stunning and leaves the reader absolutely unable to put the book down for the last 50 pages. This is now my favorite book--mostly because it is so emotionally involved (one of two books that have made me cry). I only hope the movie does not ruin this exquisite classic.
Rating:
Summary: fine historical fiction with mildly disappointing ending
Review: By and large, this is an engrossing and challenging read that manages to evoke Dr. Zhivago in its "lovers writ large on the pages of history" themes and the Poisonwood Bible in its attempt to use a fictional story to teach the history of a region. The author is particularly skillful in being able to convey different narrative voices for the different characters. My only disappointment came with the end of the novel, which struck me as both overly happy and contradictory to the earlier text. Overall, fine historical fiction. I shudder to think what the movies will do to it.
Rating:
Summary: Strange Mixture
Review: Though I live in the deepest, darkest depths of French France, I have not been living the solitary life of an underwater bird-watcher, so naturally was aware of the book (and the film hype surrounding Corelli's Mandolin). The book was easy going but oddly unsatisfying. It just didn't have the glorious highs, the surreal wit, or desperate lows of previous de Bernieres tomes. I was also disappointed by the ending, which I found surgically sentimental (though I gather it is a whole lot more so in the film). On the plus side Corelli's Mandolin was genuinely moving in places and expressed well the idea of platonic love (though I'm not wholly convinced that this is what de Bernieres set out to do). Strangely, the author wrote his first four books, culminating in Corelli, in the space of just a few years, publishing them between 1990 and 1994. Since then nothing. I only hope that he's not waiting to offload some great indigestible pudding of a book once the Corelli buzz wears off.
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